Monday, November 4, 2024

Here We Go

Lorrie's first pair of Address Windows have been completed and as usual she's done a stellar job on them.  Even her soldering required no touching up at all on my end.  I do believe she's got this stained glass thing down pat already!

 
 

Annette came in with this stunning Trumpeting Angel all finished save for hooks. She also decided to make the trumpet in lead-encased glass which may not photograph well but certainly adds an incredible amount of tasteful 'bling' to the this heavenly lady.  Iridescent wings then seal the deal.


Three more Kitty Cats have been completed and you know that if there are more than one of a particular item being made then it's probably Betty who has made them.  And in this case you'd be correct!

 
 
Kandise has begun cutting two corner pieces for her large kitchen window.  They will reside in the upper left and upper right of the window above her kitchen sink.  What you see below may very well be all of the color that she uses as I'm pretty sure that the rest of the cutting will involve assorted clear textures.
 
  

 
Let's Fishbowl Window has come together beautifully and it isn't even finished yet!  The only thing left to cut is a border and Let is still undecided as to what that might be but when she comes back in we will run the gambit with all sorts of colors and textures to settle on the one that does this complete justice.  Anything less would be a shame.
 
  
 
 
Linda F's spooky Halloween Window is missing only five pieces here but the idea of the design comes through loud and clear.   I really have to commend her on the owl that she cut, ground, and foiled because it consists of 14 pieces packed within a space less than 2 inches tall by an inch wide.  All that work has paid off though as he, the pumpkin and the bat each look stunning.
 
  
 
 
Steve's latest Virgin Mary and child Panel was inspired by a painting that he found online.    He traced it out and made a few changes so that it could be cut out in glass and ended up with what you see below.  Yes, it's crude at this point but it's all cut and only needs to be ground for you to see the details that make this a classic window.

  
 
 
Two-for Betty has certainly stepped up her game of late.  This week we all called her eight-for Betty because she walked in the door with eight Grinch Hands all cut out just waiting to be ground.   She said that she doesn't want the ornaments on these to be attached permanently so we are just going to have a hanging chain attached to the fingers and then she can use a standard Christmas Ornament hanger to thread through the last link of chain which will then attach to the ornament.  No a problem it all.

 
 
Here's another Grinch project that's well underway by Judy.  This one may not have any hands in it but Mr Grinch's face is easily recognizable.  Right now his nose and mouth look like just a green glob of glass but once this is foiled and leaded all of the details will become readily apparent.  His scowling eyes are pretty recognizable though!
 
  
 
 
 Next up we have two similar but different Cat Window that both Cindy and Martha are making for the same person.  This one features a calico cat looking out of a window with yellow curtains with just a hint or orange accent color running through them.

 
The second Cat Window features a black cat and since the cat was so much easier to cut and grind than the one that Cindy made, Martha decided to add a plant to hers as well as changing the overall profile of the cat.  The curtains though are still that stunning yellow with orange highlights.

  
 

Bee's Dandelion Window is rapidly coming together and she's beginning to think about what color green she wants for the dandelion leaves.  Once that's been cut there will only be the cross within the sun left to go.

  
 
 
MiMi has all of one of her twelve colors cut out for her Louis XV Lamp and is about to decide on which color to cut out next when she comes back in.  The egg carton trick is working wonderfully and it's looking like MiMi is going to have quite the collection of cartons filled with quite the collection of little pieces!

  
 
 
June's Goat Window has had its front side soldered which means that she'll be finishing this up when she returns.  The next time you see this guy he's going to be all set for his closeup!

 
 
Barbara is now foiling all of her pieces that make up her Magnolia Window and got the top flower completed this week.   Once everything has been foiled and tacked together she'll tackle the few background pieces and then begin thinking about what color she's going to want for a border.

  
 
 
Ann has all of her Nativity Scene Window ground but she's discovered that perhaps it was a good thing that the piece of earth at the bottom of the scene broke.  Why? Because she had cut it out of the same glass that she used to make Joseph's staff and the common glass between the two different items just looks off.  She's found a much darker brown for the ground and will cut that when she comes back in and then get to work on foiling all of these pieces.

  
 
 
Lorrie's newest pair of Street Address Windows are well under way and only need a border and a little more solder to finish both of them off.  She needs seven of these completed before Christmas but I never had any doubt that she would cut her timeline close at all.   Lorrie is really enjoying making stained glass and works long but fun hours while at home on her projects.
 
 
 
 
Susan D started another small Crow this week and got even more of her eagle suncatcher ground.  Then, since she was feeling 'playful' she also changed the pin near the eye to yellow and even added a black pupil to it!  It's hard to see in the picture below but trust me-- it's there!

  
 
 
I am really loving this Fox that Lisa is working on.  The orange part of the tail that literally points into the white tip is the kind of cut the shows up in patterns here and there and bothers students when I tell them that the actual pointed ends of the glass have to be blunted.  Yes, you can cut them out on a glass saw but you run the risk if the sharp indented point breaking when the heat from a soldering iron touches it.  Look at this closely and you'll see that the blunt points do NOT detract at all.

 
 
And just like that Susan R has begun foiling all of the pieces for her Peacock Hoop.  She's working from the top down so currently the head and the body are 'under construction'.   I've thought about it a bit and I believe that I've come up with a great way to make sure that the peacock's head dress stays secure without messy wire supports marring the back side.  We'll get into that when the time come though.
 
 
Mary Grace began  soldering her Mardi Gras Mask Panel after she got her black border cut, ground, wrapped and attached.  With most of the front side finished I'm thinking that she'll wrap this up upon her return.

 
 
Cindy's sister dropped by for a visit and loved Cindy's Holly Heart Suncatcher so much that she took it along home with her.  So here we see that Cindy is starting a second one since she really believes it will sell at the shop where she usually plies her wares. 

  
 

Shelley was looking through one of the pattern drawers and happened on this design of three women walking away from the 'camera' (otherwise known as a posterior shot).  She 's decided that this will be a family portrait of sorts and has altered the hair on two of the women to more punctiliously match the family members that they will each represent.

 
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that.

Paul

Monday, October 28, 2024

Too Big, Too Heavy, Too Dangerous

Betty finished her Heron Window and was very happy with the end result.  Everyone in class agreed that she did a great job partially because she never rushed anything about it.   If glass that she wanted to use in it wasn't available at the moment she waited until it was back in stock rather than changing up her colors for something that she wasn't completely happy with.    She also 'stitched' together the sky by herself and the grain flows perfectly throughout.

 

 

Annette showed up with this Rose Bud Window which seemed to come out of nowhere since we never saw her working on it before.   She changed the pattern a bit by adding leaves to fill in areas that she felt were a little too open and THAT is a true sign of someone who has taken stained glass to heart.  Annette not only changed up the colors on this but also altered the pattern on her own!

  

 

Steve got the wire work attached to his Humming Bird Suncatcher and ended up with a stunning piece.   Wire work always makes things look so much better but it comes at a cost because it also adds a lot of extra time to the project.  That said, the end result is always worth it as proven here.
 
 
 
Susan D finished her Crow suncatcher which will mount onto a piece of tree trunk and become another in a series of her popular tabletop pieces.   
 
 
 
Martha completed her Franklin Street Lamp Window and she's becoming known on Facebook as the Streetlight Lady because of how many of these she's made.   I guess you can call this stunning window a signature piece of Martha's.

  
 
 
  Let made another Ribbon Heart this week and scaled down the pattern so that she had enough Fractures and Streamers glass to fill in the ribbon and finish off the heart shape on the left hand side.   Beautiful!

 
 
MiMi has officially begun the biggest of undertakings-- a Stained Glass Lamp Shade!  And it's not an easy lamp either because it is made up of 1059 pieces which is NOT a beginner project at all.   It's going to take patience and time to complete this but MiMi always exhibits those traits.  There are three repeats in this 'Louis XV' lamp which means that the pattern repeats three times around the lamp.  That means that each piece needs to be cut three times.  To keep track of all of those pieces she's using egg cartons to contain them.  Each egg hole has been numbered and will hold the three pieces of glass for that particular number.  Tricks like this help make this lamp get assembled much more quickly because organization is a key component in making stained glass especially when you have a lot of pieces.

  
 
 
Let came in with most of the glass cut for her Fish Tank Window.  She wasn't sure about the color for the Goldfish so she sifted through various sheets of glass that we had in the rack and settled on three different but similar shades.  Subtle differences are the best way to shade things and Let's fish will be shaded wonderfully.
 
  
 
 

After finishing his Humming Bird Steve moved on over to a pair of Cardinals.  This one has wire work also which adds time to the project but look at how much he has completed already!   This is going to be out the door before you know it.

 
 
Melissa's Kaleidoscope wheels were soldered completely this week and the axles where added to the centers of each wheel.   That is probably the most taxing part of making a kaleidoscope because if the rivet in the center is off centered or angled in even the slightest bit the wheel will be cockeyed and spin wobbly.  I've come up with a method that gets the rivet centered perfectly on the first try and then  a little pushing  or pulling  gets the wheel balanced before tacking the rivet firmly into place.

 
 
Cindy is flying through the cutting and grinding of her Cat in a Window Window.  She agonized over the color for the mullions in front of the cat and decided to go with a traditional white.  This was largely agreed upon due to the white being more visible between the calico cat and the yellow curtains.
 
  
 
 
Annette also managed to tack her Sacred Heart Window together this week and is officially ready to begin soldering!  The roll of solder is on the project, let the fun begin! 

 

Ann started grinding her Nativity Window  and got pretty far with it.  The bottom piece of glass for her ground may indeed have broken but since it's honestly just dirt that will be a simple fix utilizing some extra pieces.  That will makes the window worth more since pricing is determined by materials used and the number of pieces in the finished work!

 
 
Lisa finished grinding her Mountains and Stars Suncatcher and if you look REALLY closely you'll see that she decided to go with iridized glass for the 3 stars.   Once that was ground she moved on over to her circular Fox Panel and even in this beginning state it looks amazing.  Her glass choices and pattern placement for this are impeccable.

 
 
Jan got all of the waterglass background cut out for her Sunburst Window but since it's clear glass it's a bit hard to make out in the picture.   She then began grinding her Sunburst starting in the lower right corner and it certainly looks like things are coming together nicely.
 
  
 

Linda F has made terrific progress on her Halloween Window and even has a good majority of the window already ground.  She said that the Owl in the upper right was a bit of a pain to cut and grind but boy does it look great!  This is going to be one spooky looking Halloween Window when it's finished.

 
 
With each passing week Susan D's Eagle gains more feathers.  this thing will be flying out the door soon!  I love the way the one pin just happens to form a perfect eye for this bird.   Was that by design or coincidence?
 
  
 

Lara's Stack of Books are all cut out save for the pages of each book.  She doesn't want to go with pure white pages and I think I know the perfect glass for the job.   And let's not forget that she didn't just cut out once of these Stacks of Books.  She's cut enough glass to make two of these (hence the two zip lock bags of pieces in the top of the picture)!

 
 
Judy knew that she wanted to make a Christmas themed window the moment she walked in the door.  She sorted through all of the patterns that we had in the Holiday Drawer and she then settled on a Grinch Window.   At one point before the eyes were cut out I felt that it looked like Kermit the Frog in a Santa suit but once the eyes were cut and dropped into place the Grinch became clearly recognizable.  I can't believe how quickly Judy is moving on this!

 
  
 

Lorrie is running out or room in her workshop and decided to finish two of the Address Windows that only needed borders attached to complete them.   By the time class was finished Lorrie had two borders attached to two windows and even got a channel on the pair of them as well.  Look to see these completed upon her return because she only needs the back sides soldered to finish them off.  

  
 
 
Susan R wants to know whose idea it was to make a Peacock.  Well the end is VERY near and she's not only going to love this-- she's also going to feel that all of the work she did was well worth it.  That's a fact!
  
 
 

Betty also worked on three more Cat Suncatchers which are selling at a rate that's hard for Betty to keep up with.  In a way, Betty's becoming one of those cat ladies that you hear about all the time!

 
 
Bee has certainly taken off while cutting glass for her Dandelion Window this week.  There are really only leaves and the Cross in the sun left to cut out.  She's a quick one!

 
 
Barbara finished grinding the flowers in her Magnolia Window and decided that the bottom flower needed some yellow in it to match the top one better.  She cut a small piece of yellow, ground it to shape and then placed it on top of the flower and traced around it to create the perfect opening for the yellow accent. Look closely and you can see that this picture was taken after she traced around the yellow piece but before she actually cut the opening in the petals.

 
 
Mary Grace got all of the background glass for her Mardi Gras Window cut, ground, and wrapped in foil.  This was a job that also required careful organizational skills because mixing up any of those similar triangular pieces could have been disastrous.  All in all it was a very productive day for her she'll be soldering this next week after the border goes on.
 
  
 
 
June replaced the mis-colored pieces in her Goat Window and now the goat has a much fuller face and even better, has no hole in the middle of his body!   Color errors like these are easy to make when you are dealing with a pattern that is black and white. June also tried many different colors of glass for the border but in the end this off brown ended up being the best choice by far
 
  
 
 
Sheri resumed work on her Koi Window and has selected most, if not all of the colors that she'll use to make this.  She's begun to trace pattern pieces onto glass so I'm thinking that we will see some glass cut for this when she comes back in.
 
  

In signing off I just want to say, "Alcohol."  Why?  Because no great story ever began with someone eating a salad.

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks